Car Accident | Dachshunds

Tag Archive | "car accident"

A Dog Seat Belt Just May Save Your Pet’s Life

Posted on 21 August 2009. Tags: car accident, dog seat belt, dog seat belt harness, pet seat belt, riding dog

You never know what’s going to happen when you’re minding your business and all of a sudden you’re broadsided by a SUV and its rear bumper is crunching down on the top of your hood. Miss June bug was lucky she was not hurt — other than her cute Lexus IS Station Wagon — but it hit close to home since Chloe usually has her head hanging out the window while we take our weekly ride traversing the same path MJB took.

The pleasant ride down Olsen Road, left onto Moorpark and through windy Norwegian Grade to get some fresh country air. (I know MJB is wondering how I safely navigate the Grade with a dog on my lap with its head out the window. Let’s just say it takes a lot of practice and slow driving.) You never would expect that an accident would occur in the peaceful suburbs of Thousand Oaks.

Chloe, our “riding dog,” truly is accustomed to and an expert at sitting on your left leg while taking in the 40 MPH breeze with her dog goggles on. The countless rides she enjoyed to her favorite Fast Food — always friendly to the Mc Donald’s cashier — may have to end because she just won’t ride buckled up.

We have a dog seat belt harness — somewhere — purchase because Odie was constantly jumping back and forth from the passenger seat to my lap when he was going to his weekly obedience training at PetSmart. Somehow he would manage to wiggle out of it by the time we were speeding along on the freeway making it impossible to readjust the belt before hopping onto me.

Odie is somewhat better now that he’s more obedient, but he still hates riding in the passenger seat. Molly simply likes to ride in the back seat running back and forth from window to window barking at every stranger. These two Dachshunds are not riding dogs.

But all you have to say is “are you a riding dog?” and she gets more excited than, well, you know what. I know that a seat belt may save her life someday, but I don’t think she will understand why.